De Bruyne rests until the end of 2023
* Man City - Sevilla: 2am on Thursday, August 17, Hanoi time.
The Spanish coach admitted De Bruyne was seriously injured, had to rest for a few months and will decide whether to have surgery or not in the next few days. Guardiola revealed that the famous surgeon Ramon Cugat and two or three other doctors had seen the image of the Belgian midfielder's injury, and had the same opinion.
When asked about the worst-case scenario, the Man City head coach said: "I don't know. Surgery is surgery, so De Bruyne can take three or four months off."
De Bruyne injured his hamstring from the Champions League final against Inter Milan on June 10 and missed most of the pre-season. The 32-year-old midfielder entered the field at the end of the English Super Cup match against Arsenal at Wembley on August 6, then relapsed with a hamstring injury, when leaving the field in the 23rd minute of the opening Premier League match against Burnley 3-0 last weekend.
Guardiola revealed that he would talk to Man City sporting director, Txiki Begiristain about the possibility of recruiting an attacking midfielder, and acknowledged De Bruyne's injury was a shock and a great loss to the club. "De Bruyne has specific qualities. He can miss a game or two, but for such a long time it is difficult," he expressed.
The 52-year-old coach said Man City had many options, when he judged that Phil Foden and rookie Mateo Kovacic could take the place of De Bruyne. In addition to the Belgian midfielder, Ruben Dias is injured, Bernardo Silva is ill, John Stones is open to the possibility of playing and Joao Cancelo is excluded from the list of European Super Cup matches at Karaiskakis, Piraeus, Greece to find a new destination.
This is the first time Man City has participated in the European Super Cup match. Meanwhile, Sevilla hold the record of seven UEFA Cup/Europa League winners, winning the European Super Cup in 2006 and losing five times since: 2007, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2020.
Guardiola admitted winning the Champions League for the first time helped Man City relieve a lot of pressure. He also denied that Man City was overrated, saying that Sevilla was a strong and experienced opponent in European matches, as demonstrated by the 3-0 victory over Man Utd in the quarter-finals of the Europa League last season. .
"You have to win the Champions League and Europa League to be here. Hopefully we'll be back, but maybe not. We're happy, comfortable and privileged to be playing in the European Super Cup," said Guardiola. said more.
Rodri was a key factor in helping City win the treble last season, having provided seven assists and four goals in 56 games in all competitions, including the only goal in the Champions League final. Sitting next to Guardiola in the press conference, the Spanish midfielder aims to score more goals this season and insists Man City always aspire to win more titles.
